11 year old matador is victim of child abuse

The 12 year old bullfighting child was gored recently in a bullfight
in Colombia. His father (an ex-bullfighter) was obliged to jump into
the bullring to avoid that the kid was gored even more. Both ended in
the infirmary to receive treatment for their injuries.

Please send an email to the Director of Family Welfare of the Colombian
Institute of Family Welfare to protest against allowing a child of 12
years old to engage professionally in a dangerous activity with the
agreement of his parents.

He became the youngest matador to have made so many kills and said he
was "happy to have achieved a great victory".

But activists said the youngster had been exploited to publicise bullfighting.

"It's a form of child abuse. He's been taught from an early age
to kill bulls for fun" said a spokesman for the League Against Cruel
Sports. "This will cause revulsion in Mexico and around the world
and it's sad that this boy has been damaged from a very, very early age."

Michelito - the son of a French bullfighter - has slain more than 60 calves
and made his first kill aged just 6. He practices as a toddler using a
tea towel as a cape and killed a month old calf when he was 4.

After campaigners tried to get the fight banned he told them to mind their
own business.

The judge approved this sickening atrocity - which was watched by thousands
of people - moments before it was due to take place in the city of Merida.

But the League said the fight may prove to be counter productive and hasten
the decline of this evil.

"Bullfighting in Spain inparticular is in very serious financial
trouble because young Spaniards aren't interested any more. It's reasonable
that decline will eventually find its way to Latin America," he added.

The National Association of Matadors declared the performance a one-time
record in his age group for bull calves killed.

But Guinness World Records has told Lagravere he won't be seeing his
name in their famous tome.

"We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals,"
it said in a statement.

The youth's fight was briefly suspended on Saturday when state child
protection authorities intervened.

But fears for child safety subsided and the event was allowed to go ahead.

Mexico has no minimum age for bullfighting. But children are supposed
to be closely supervised as they advance from non-lethal exhibitions with
small calves to full-fledged bullfights.

This boy was taught to kill calves from the age of 4 - how completely
sick and depraved. This is the destruction of a childs innocence, as a
normal child loves animals. This is akin to showing a child pornography.
His parents should be prosecuted for child abuse.

Michelle Lagravere was praying to the Virgin Mary prior to his "fight"
- this seems strange as Jesus was born in a stable amongst such animals
when humans turned his parents away. So I don't think Mary would be happy
about Lagravere's activities.

Lagravere's response to animal rights protestors was that they should
"mind their own business". Well, if he ever gets tortured, beaten
and stabbed by thugs I wonder how he would feel if people just "mind
their own business". Siobhan Gavaghan